Shadow Puppets
by ArcticNomads
Summary: Takes place after the Anime Akame ga Kill! ends with a few exceptions... Mine and Tatsumi will be alive for this and I'll be introducing a new hooded villain! What will the couple do to stop him when he attacks random villages mercilessly? Pairings: MineXTatsumi and rated M for violence and a possibility of lemons...
1. Prologue

**Prologue: **A Sinister Turn

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><p><strong>Disclaimer: I do not own <strong>**Akame Ga Kill****; all credit goes to its respective owners.**

**A/N: **This is my first Fanfiction, so any criticism on how to improve my story is much appreciated! One thing before I start, when Esdeath hugged Tatsumi before she died, pretend it didn't happen! Oh, and I'm going to give this an M rating just to be safe, because I may have some lemons for you guys that love that… The pairings I've set up are: MineXTatsumi, for sure and I may add a little WaveXAkame moments if you guys want to see that. Enjoy!

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><p>After the fall of the empire, the revolutionary army is busy rebuilding from the vast amount of devastation cause by the Prime Minister and the Emperor. Everything started to take a turn for the better, as the citizens were back in the streets, continuing their daily routines and the outlying villages started receiving the financial support they needed. The lives lost in the struggle for overthrowing the corrupt government, was higher than it had been then most of the battles that had taken place over the centuries, but thankfully it was all over. Or was it…?<p>

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><p>A large crash resonated through the streets of a small village approximately fifty kilometres from the outskirts of the Capital, many civilians rushed to their window in an attempt to figure out what was going on. They saw massive hordes of people running down even the most deserted streets, frantically trying to get away from an unknown pursuer. The crowd of people were trampling everything in their path; even potentially they're own friends or neighbours, with their only goal being to make it to the outside of the wooden palisade that surrounded the city. They were just about to make it, when the ground underneath them exploded, launching projectile stone in every direction, tearing the civilians to shreds. A giant Danger Beast in the form of a worm emerged from the subterranean tunnel it had just created, devouring any remaining survivors. That did it; the whole town abandoned their homes, not even bothering to pack. Nobody even noticed the hooded figure, which was standing atop a mountain, appearing as if it were spectating the massacre.<p>

"That was far too easy," the hooded figure said giving off a little laugh, "I wonder how long it will take before they respond to my little intrusion!"

Just about when everything in the town had been destroyed, the figure turned around preparing to leave without giving what he had just done a second thought. As soon as the figure took its first step, all the Danger Beasts suddenly disappeared as if they had never existed.

The remaining population started their long trek to the capital in order to tell someone what had happened to them and their village. They hoped that someday, someone would secure their village so they could commence reconstruction. Little did anyone know that there would be more surprises to come up, not just for them but also for everyone in the newly reformed Capital.

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><p><strong>Meanwhile, just outside the Capital…<strong>

"Owww, everything in my body hurts," Tatsumi complained attempting to figure out where he was, "wait a minute, why am I in a box…?"

A moment later someone cried out in an attempt to warn the guards, "Bandits are coming!"

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><p><strong>AN: **There you have the prologue, next chapter I'll be adding in our main characters! Feel free to comment as you see fit, everything helps! I'd like to thank my buddy: Enteng47 for all the help he's given me in coming up with a plot as well as correcting my grammatical mistakes!


	2. Chapter 1

**Shadow Puppets Ch.1: **Umm… What's going on?

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><p><strong>AN: **I realise that the prologue is really short, but it's a prologue, don't get used to it… Anyways, I'm going to tell you what's happening with Tatsumi and Mine now. I'm not sure how this is going to turn out so I'm just going to warn you right now that there MAY be lemons. Also Italic will be used when a character is saying things to themselves. Anyways enjoy!

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><p>Panic filled Tatsumi's head when he heard "bandits" being yelled out, not to mention he was in a box and was getting claustrophobic. His main priority at that moment was to get out of his temporary prison. Still feeling a bit groggy from his potentially long nap, he summoned all the strength that he had gathered and kicked the side of the box off. As he slid out of the hole he had just created, he noticed the odd shape of the box that they put him in next to a whole bunch of other identically shaped boxes packed into this wagon. After trying to recognize the strange shape of the box, it hit him; the box was shaped exactly like a coffin… For a moment Tatsumi was stunned. What was he doing in a coffin?! Was he a dead man come back to life? The guards defending this cart were now shouting for help as it was obvious they were getting overwhelmed. Tatsumi started thinking about what he should do next, but was cut off by the growing battle sounds coming from outside his sheltered transport.<p>

"There's too many!" the guards shrieked in unison.

One of the guards pleaded for his life, but it was futile, the bandits killed him mercilessly and without even thinking twice, leaving only screams of agony from the fallen guard as he got dismembered. This only hurried his thought process tenfold, as he began to figure out his best course of action.

"_I have to get out of here and run away,"_ Tatsumi finally decided, _"the people that put me in this coffin probably didn't want me alive, and well the bandits aren't to be trusted."_

Tatsumi noticed that Incursio's key was fixed to the top of the coffin. He grabbed it and prepared to make a break for it. With the strength he had gathered so far he decided against using the demon armour right away. So instead, Tatsumi analysed his escape routes. He noticed that on either side of the wagon there was a dense forest. Satisfied that everyone was presently fighting the enemy at the front of the transport wagon, he hopped out the back and bolted for the forest on the other side of the road to hide behind a bush. He stayed hidden for a few seconds and then raised his head over the foliage to make sure no one saw him make a run for it. Evidently they hadn't seen him, for their attention was most likely on the driver of the transport for they had already ended all the guards' lives. They caught the driver of the wagon, who was by now attempting to flee as fast as he could, by the arm.

"Tell me if there is anything valuable on this wagon and where it is," the lead bandit shouted at a fearful driver, "if you do I'll let you live!"

"I'm sorry but I'm only the driver, I was sent to deliver these bodies to the cemetery," the driver squealed unsure of the lead bandit's response, "I wouldn't know if there's anything valuable! Just please let me live!"

"I regret to inform you that I have no intention of doing anything of the sort," the lead bandit laughed as he cut the drivers throat, "burn this wagon down, any gems and good swords should survive the fire."

A few seconds later and the other bandits did just that, they burned the entire wagon down and pretty well everything inside it too. Tatsumi watched horrified and hated himself because he couldn't help anyone. At that moment he felt a burst of rage, his blood boiled and the demon armour, Incursio, was begging to be used. Tatsumi figured it would be ok now, after all, he would have to get used to this new evolution at some point. In response to his decision, he summoned all the strength within him and transformed into a nigh unstoppable killing machine! With lightning speed, Tatsumi jumped at the lead Bandit cutting his body in half. The remainder of the group of bandits attempted to escape, only to realise that they had no more legs to run on. Tatsumi left the heap of corpses behind only to have a familiar thought return to him.

"_Why was I in a coffin? I feel alive right now so this doesn't make any sense!"_

Tatsumi figured that he wasn't going to get an answer right now and that it was probably a waste of time to think about it for much longer. He left the bandits alone and started to make his way towards the Capital, he didn't have any money but maybe he could find out a little bit more about what was going on.

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><p><strong>Approximately one week ago in the middle of the woods…<strong>

Mine woke up under the sheets of a warm bed. She looked around only to find herself in a cottage made of logs. In the cottage there was a small fire in the fire pit on the opposite wall, which had a cooking pot over it, as well as another bed and a small living room. Mine panicked a little at the sight of it.

"_Where am I and how did I get here!"_ she thought to herself.

The last thing Mine remembered was dying in Tatsumi's arms. At least she was pretty sure she had died… Mine looked outside a nearby window but the log cabin but was surrounded by a thick forest; as a result there weren't any visible landmarks for her to follow. She decided to wait for whoever it was that brought her here so that they could explain her situation in more detail. A half hour later, a man with a worn jacket and a long beard walked into the cottage carrying a hunting rifle and had a wild board on his back. Mine jumped away from the fire she had been sitting beside, only to relax when he clarified he wasn't hostile and was only there to help.

"Sorry if I frightened you, anyways I'm glad to see that you've woken up," the man said calmly, "I thought that you had died by that river but I see that I was able to bring you back just in time!"

Mine quickly asked for an explanation as to why she was still alive and feeling much better. The man first declared that his name was Randy, and explained that he went on a hunting trip. Apparently on his way to his favourite spot he found her passed out on the ground.

"I immediately checked to see that you were ok," Randy explained, "after checking your pulse I discovered that you heart was going to shut down soon because it was beating irregularly. It's fairly rare unless you were exposed to an electrical shock of course!"

Just then, Mine remembered getting hit by a lightning bolt from Budou's Imperial Arm, though she wasn't going to tell Randy that. Randy proceeded to explain that he revived her by resetting her heart beat to a regular pace through a technique called CPR. He then carried her back to his hunting cottage so that she could rest; he also explained that on his way back he found a glowing rifle, and although it was too hot to pick up, but he returned the following day to retrieve it. Things were finally starting to make sense. Mine thanked him for retrieving her Pumpkin and requested that she would be allowed to stay with him for a little while longer to fully recover.

"No problem, stay as long as you like!" Randy responded in his cheerful tone.

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><p><strong>Present day in the Capital…<strong>

Tatsumi was stunned to see everyone in the Capital concentrated on rebuilding their city. People were outside talking to one another, which was vastly different to his first visit where everyone looked sick and depressed. He tried his best to blend in, but with everyone being enthusiastic, Tatsumi found it very difficult to not reveal his face. Eventually he made it to the centre of the city; it was in complete tatters however, this is where key decisions were being made. Tatsumi snooped around until he found the most fully reconstructed part of the building and surely enough, there were members of the Revolutionary Army and even his old boss sitting around a large makeshift table. Tatsumi was prepared to walk in and let everyone know he was alive, but he decided against it. He feared that he would get dragged back into being an assassin, there were still minor resistance forces scattered through the countryside with generals that could become targets if he were to show his face. Tatsumi just wanted to get away from it all, the blood and the killing; essentially he wanted to run away from his past. He knew that one day he would be judged, but at least for a little while, he needed a break. It seemed like hours that the conversation around the table was taking, strategizing on the best way to distribute resources evenly amongst the Capital and its outlying cities. Finally, something relevant came up.

"We should remember the sacrifices of the people that will be forgotten in our history books," Tatsumi's old boss Najenda said, "remember the assassins that made this all possible!"

Then came the interesting bit, Najenda was now recounting how each assassin died and the significance of their deaths in helping the Revolutionary Army reach its goal. Tatsumi was now going to hear if he had truly died in his fight against Shikoutazer. Najenda started by talking about Scheele and how her death, although it was very tragic, was beneficial in telling the empire that only an Imperial Arms can fight another one. She then talked about Bulat and how he and Tatsumi had killed Esdeath's three elites. The boss, too Tatsumi's misfortune, talked about Mine's death next. How she was able to take down Budou, the Empire's most respected general and leader of the Imperial Guard, all by herself. She credited Lubbock, for killing the Prime Minister's son who was capable of teleporting anywhere he had previously marked (which was basically everywhere). Tatsumi suddenly remembered all his friends' deaths and promised to return the old Night Raid hideout to pay proper tribute to his fallen comrades. Najenda also mentioned Tatsumi's fight, where he focused as much as he could to avoid missing any details. She started by mentioning that Incursio needs a lot of strength to control, and that its evolution was too much for Tatsumi's wounded body to support at the time. At this point the Revolutionary Army had already procured a great deal of Imperial Arms, one that they had recently procured had the ability to cure almost any wound or ailment. However being a newly discovered Imperial Arm, they didn't know what would happen when they needed to recover someone's strength. When they healed Tatsumi's wounds it appeared as if he was dead because the Imperial Arm had placed him in a deep sleep in order for Tatsumi to recover his strength. By the time they realised, his body had already been shipped to the cemetery and he had the tough luck of being burned alive by the bandits that raided the wagon earlier that day.

"_Or rather that's the conclusion they must've come to when they read the report"_ Tatsumi thought to himself, _"I made sure they wouldn't find the bandit's bodies so there's no evidence that I'm alive right now."_

Tatsumi, satisfied with the answer, was just about to leave the Capital when an influx of refugees came through the main gates. There were talks of giant Danger Beasts wrecking buildings and eating crowds of people. Tatsumi was shocked that multiple Danger Beasts would just show up and attack village at random, especially when those Danger Beasts knew exactly which day the town would be undefended by an Imperial Arm user. Tatsumi figured that the people now in charge of the Capital would take care of it; however he would investigate later when he had recovered on the emotional side. And so, he stocked up on provisions and started walking towards the old Night Raid hideout.

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><p><strong>Present day at Randy's cottage…<strong>

"Randy, I think I'll be leaving today," Mine told Randy, "but first I wanted to thank you and explain a little about my past."

Randy shook his head in acknowledgement, a little bit curious. Mine proceeded to tell him about how she was discriminated because of her foreign blood and how she hoped that the new Empire would be accepting towards everyone. She was going to leave his cottage in order to return to the old Night Raid hideout so that she could mourn and maybe stock up on some supplies too. After staying a few days, she would attempt to lead a normal life without worrying about being discriminated, which is what she always wanted.

Randy gave her some words of encouragement, "I think that's a great goal! Personally, I wouldn't get too comfy yet with the Capital rebuilding and all, it may take a while for you to realise your dream put if you pursue it I'm sure it will come true!"

With that, she packed up what little she owned and left, thanking Randy for all of his hospitality these past few days. Mine, walked out the door with the map Randy had made for her, she didn't want to trouble him by asking him to accompany her to the Night Raid hideout, because Randy said he didn't like going very far away from the cottage.

By midday, Mine had already walked about half of the way to the old Night Raid hideout. Even though she was capable of travelling very fast, Randy told her to take it easy for at least a couple more days… She herd some noise just up ahead and instinctively jumped on a nearby branch, pointing Pumpkin in the voices general direction. Although she couldn't see any targets, Mine could still hear their conversation. In a matter of moments, just a couple voices became a few more, the number of voices continued to grow until she could hear about two dozen. Mine was trying hard to isolate one or to voices and managed to hear: "Town… Gone… Danger Beasts… Need… Help…" Although she couldn't quite make out what they were trying to say, Mine had a pretty good idea, however she decided that her needs needed to be met for the first time in a while. With this in mind she hurried up to make it to the Night Raid base before the night arrived.

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><p><strong>About a kilometer away from the Night Raid hideout…<strong>

Tatsumi's stomach was groaning because he had skipped lunch in order to make it to the hideout faster. When it was in sight, Tatsumi felt a rush of emotions covering the whole spectrum, from happy or sad, to grief or anger, he felt them all. Tatsumi looked around a bit more before going through a partially destroyed wall. Knowing how to cook, he prepared a boar he had hunted earlier, using ingredients form the Capital he had bought earlier today. Just when he was about done cooking he got the feeling that a presence was approaching his position, he lifted his hood so that they wouldn't find out who he was and grabbed his sword just in case…

Mine was walking towards the Night Raid hideout, but when it came into sight, there was smoke coming from the kitchen. Mine was furious that bandits had taken over the hideout; she then found the entrance and quickly made her way to the kitchen. Mine raised Pumpkin into her arm, ready to obliterate anything that moved. Just as she entered the kitchen, it was deserted!

"Have those crooks anticipated my move?" Mine whispered.

Just then, a hooded figure holding a sword swung at her, but Mine saw the figure coming and was able to lift Pumpkin to block the blow. The hooded figured staggered backwards, leaving a surprised Mine. It then proceeded to lower its hood, showing the face of an even more confused Tatsumi. In that moment, the whole world stopped.

"T-Tatsumi?" Mine said, dropping Pumpkin to the floor.

"MINE!" Tatsumi shouted, dropping his sword onto the floor as well, "I thought you were dead!" Tatsumi continued, running over to Mine wrapping his arms around her, holding her close.

"I will be if you keep crushing me with your hugs!" Mine responded playfully.

After a long moment, Tatsumi released Mine and they sat down to eat the boar he had just prepared. Tatsumi, being really curious, asked Mine how she lived on after being hit by Budou's Imperial Arm. She told him about Randy and how he was always there to help people in need, the cottage she lived him for a while and Randy's CPR technique, the one he used on her to save her. Tatsumi was overjoyed that Mine was taken in by a good person, happy that he had taken good care of her. Tatsumi thanked Randy for his assistance before he was brought back to the real world by Mine's voice.

"Well what's your story?" Mine questioned.

Tatsumi proceeded to tell her about how he fought Shikoutazer, defeated the Empire, but needed to be healed by a newly discovered Imperial Arm. He also explained how the new Imperial Arm put him into a deep sleep, so everyone thought he was dead. As he went on he also told her about seeing a large amount of refugees, maybe fifty or so, coming into the Capital to seek shelter and ask for someone's help in rebuilding their city. At that Mine also pointed out another refugee group, numbering a couple dozen, saying something about Danger Beasts and needing help because of their town being destroyed. Tatsumi found this a weird coincidence but decided to talk about it later, as he wanted to spend the entire remaining day talking to Mine.

"I originally came here to mourn for our fallen friends," Tatsumi started, "we never really got to think about them you know? If you want to, we can do that tomorrow because tonight I'm pretty tired!"

"Alright, we'll do it tomorrow! I'm pretty tired as well…" Mine responded, and as if on cue it started to rain.

Mine and Tatsumi both took a nice and warm bath before bed, the sounds of rain droplets hitting the roof and the occasional lightning bolt echoing in the distance. Once Tatsumi found his bed, he collapsed onto it and instantly passed out. Mine was not having so much luck, being kept awake by the lightning outside. Mine was scared of lightning now ever since she had seen Budou's Imperial Arm. Each bolt sounded exactly like his Imperial Arm too. She started panicking a little and decided to visit Tatsumi's room so that he could comfort her. When she got to his door, she knocked a few times. Tatsumi instantly woke up and came to open up the door.

"Hey Mine, what's wrong?" Tatsumi said sounding concerned.

"Well it's about the lightning, I'm scared of it" Mine confessed a red colour of embarrassment flushing into her face.

Tatsumi offered for her to stay with him for a while, until the storm passed, however it was intent on not stopping for a long time at best. Sleepiness crawled back into him as he was talking to Mine, so he suggested that she sleep in his bed for tonight. Just as she slipped into the covers, Tatsumi spoke up.

"Goodnight Mine!" Tatsumi he began, his cheeks adopting a red colour, "You know I'll always be here for you now, I'll never lose you again… Mine I love you!"

"I'll always love you too and I swear I'll never leave your side, goodnight Tatsumi" Mine responded also adopting a similar colour.

The reunited couple cuddled up to each other and kissed their partner gently on the lips. They both fell asleep a moment later unaware of noises surrounding them, focusing solely on each other's heartbeats.

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><p><strong>AN: **There you guys have it, that's Chapter 1! Feel free to comment and if you really enjoyed it, please follow or favourite the story! Showing your support will make me very happy to find the time to continue writing and releasing my series! The next chapter may take a while to release because the holidays are over and I'll have to return to my busy life again… Also I'm going to refer to Imperial Arms now as Teigu because it's easier to write that. Anyways cheers people, happy new year and I'll get the next chapter out ASAP!


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